Sydney:�Despite the absence of struggling captain Rohit Sharma, India's batting order again crumbled as it was bowled out for 185 on the first day of the decisive fifth and final test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Sharma was replaced Friday as skipper by Jasprit Bumrah, whose decision to bat first on a green-tinged SCG pitch under overcast skies backfired as Australia's bowlers took advantage of the lively wicket to tear through India's batting lineup.
Scott Boland took 4-31 off 20 overs, while Mitchell Starc had 3-49, as India was bowled out for less than 200 for the fifth time in the series.
At stumps, Australia was 9-1 in reply, with Bumrah (1-7) having Usman Khawaja (2) caught at slip.
The new skipper immediately celebrated in the direction of Sam Konstas after a fiery final over that saw the young batter and Bumrah face off with a verbal exchange just two balls prior.
The start of the fifth test mirrored the four previous it as the bowlers dominated early.
After several deliveries beat the edge of the bat outside off-stump, Starc found more joy bowling straighter as Rahul (4) chipped a simple catch to Sam Konstas at square leg in the fifth over when India was 11-1.
Boland was then introduced into the attack and only needed four balls at Jaiswal (10) to have the young opener edge a ball through to debutant Beau Webster — replacing Mitch Marsh — to reduce the tourists to a shaky 17-2.
That brought Kohli, the series' pantomime villain, to the crease. Kohli was greeted by booing from many in the the SCG crowd, stemming from his deliberate shoulder bump on Konstas on the opening morning of the Boxing Day test for which he was later fined.
And fittingly, his first ball was the most dramatic of the session. Boland drew the edge and it flew low to Steve Smith's right hand at second slip. Smith appeared to get his hand just under the ball before it hit the ground and the ball popped up for Marnus Labuschagne to complete the catch, sparking wild celebrations for the hosts.
The catch was referred to TV umpire Joel Wilson with replays suggesting the ball may have touched the grass as it came out of Smith hand and Kohli survived.
As lunch approached, Nathan Lyon (1-19) teased Gill (20) to edge through to Smith to end the session with India at 57-3.
Kohli's (17) luck didn't extend much further after the break as he again edged behind from Boland and was caught by Webster with India at 72-4.
Rishabh Pant, who was widely criticized after a pair of loose dismissals in Melbourne, survived a dropped chance on 19 off Webster, but again played an ill-advised big shot to hole-out off Boland for 40, India's top score of the day.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, India's centurion in Melbourne, followed Pant next ball as he edged to Smith.
Starc (1-24) then had Jadeja (26) trapped lbw to continue India's slide.
Cummins (2-37) removed Sundar (14) with a contentious TV umpire decision that ruled the ball had lightly brushed Sundar's glove on the way through to Carey.
Prasidh Krishna (3) became Starc's third wicket when he holed-out to Konstas in the deep and Bumrah (22) skied a catch to Starc off Cummins to end the innings.
Australia leads the series 2-1 and must avoid defeat to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2014-15. A win by India and a drawn series at 2-2 would allow the visitors to retain the trophy for a record-extending fifth consecutive time.
A win for Australia at the SCG would book the team’s spot in a second straight World Test Championship final. Australia beat India in the 2023 decider.
South Africa became the first team to qualify for the WTC final at Lord’s in June by winning a dramatic match at home to Pakistan last weekend.
India drop Sharma Intense speculation that Sharma would be dropped for the final test was confirmed shortly before play with Bumrah named as India's captain.
With scores of 3, 6, 10, 3 and 9 at an average of 6.2 for the series, Sharma has had a wretched tour since coming back into the side for the second test after he missed India’s comprehensive first-test win in Perth on paternity leave.
While Bumrah said Sharma had been rested, the 37-year-old's test career would now appear in peril, despite India's poor showing with the bat without their struggling skipper.
“Our captain has shown his leadership and opted to rest in this game,” Bumrah said at the coin toss. “There is a lot of unity in this team, there is no selfishness.
“Whatever is in the team’s best interest, we are looking to do that.”